Warhead section coupler

ABSTRACT

A coupler means for securing the sections of a missile warhead together utilizing pin means anchored in the sections by Allen screws. The missile sections each have a flange means integral with an end and a means integral with the flange which is adapted to receive pin means. The pin means contain a plurality of recess means adapted to receive screw means, and a hermetical seal means is located in an end of one section to be coupled to prevent moisture from entering the coupled sections.

United States Patent 2,181,196 11/1939 Miller Silverthorne 1 Feb. 1 5, 1972 [54] WARBEAD SECTION COUPLER 3,070,018 12/1962 Fahl ..102/49.5 [721 wanton Chum B Saver" Be Air, 3,183,024 5/1965 Myers et a1. ..28Sl404 X [73] Assignee: The Unlted States 01 America as Primary Examiner-Verlin R. Pendegrass my the Sec-Mary d the y Attorney-Harry M. Saragovitz, Edward J. Kelly, Herben a":

[21] Appl. No.: 829,415 [57] ABSTRACT A coupler means for securing the sections of a missile warhead US. "102/56, together in means anchored in the sections Allen [51] n F42, 13/00 screws. The missile sections each have a flange means integral [58] dd OStfl'th ..285/90, 363, 404, 405; with an end and a means integral with thc flange which is 56 adapted to receive pin means. The pin means contain a plurality of recess means adapted to receive screw means, and a [56] Idem Cited hermetical seal means is located in an end of one section to be UNITED STATES PATENTS coupled to prevent moisture from entering the coupled sections. 2,052,394 8/1936 Fu11man ..285l404 X 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Hummus 15 m2 3.641 5337 INVENTOR Clarence 8. Silva/Marne ATTORNEY) wsruuzsn SECTION COUPLER DEDICATORY CLAUSE The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

My invention relates to a coupler means having structural stability for securing the sections of a missile warhead together.

The prior art method and means of securing missile warhead sections together consisted of using flush head screws to fasten the sections together.

Several problems existed as a result of the above prior art method and means; namely, difficulty in aligning the sections to be secured together so that the missile Prima Cord could be readily inserted within the Prima Cord conduit, difficulty in obtaining a good hermetical seal between secured sections, and difficulty rapid handling hardware the tools and the loose hardware needed to secure the sections together with gloves on under cold climate conditions. My invention was conceived and reduced to, practice to solve the above problems and to satisfy the long-felt need in the warhead section securing art for a coupler means which does permit rapid and accurate aligning of the sections to be secured together, does permit obtaining a good hermetical seal between the secured sections, and does permit rapid securing of the sections together while working with gloves on due to the elimination of loose hardware and tools which cannot be effectively and efiiciently used while wearing gloves.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a reliable and structurally strong coupler means for securing sections of a missile warhead together.

Another object of my invention is to provide a reliable and structurally strong coupler means which will permit rapid and accurate alignment of missile warhead sections to be joined together.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a reliable and structurally strong coupler means to pennit rapid and accurate alignment of missile warhead sections to be joined together and which permits a good hermetical seal to be obtained between the secured sections.

A further object of my invention is to provide a reliable and structurally strong coupler means which permits rapid and accurate alignment and securing together of warhead sections even while wearing gloves.

Other objects will be obvious from or will appear in the specification hereinafter set forth.

HO. 1 is a view of a missile warhead foresection to be secured to the section shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a view of a missile warhead aft section to be secured to the section shown in FIG. 1.

HO. 3 is a view of the fore and aft sections shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 secured together by my coupler means.

My invention and H05. 1 to 3 will now be described in detail as follows.

Assembly pins 1 are inserted in a plurality of holes in a plurality of flange members 2, as shown in FIG. 1; the flange members being integral with the inner wall of flange means 8 and located around the circumference of flange means 8; flange means 8 being integral with the larger diameter end of foresection 3. Each pin 1 has pair of notches 4 and 5, as shown in H0. 3, located 180 apart in relation to each other and in opposite ends of each pin 1; the bottoms of the notches being flat to provide a bearing surface for standard and conventional Allen screws. The location of recesses 4 and 5 on pins 1 is selected so that surface 11 of foresection 3 is drawn tightly against surface 12 of aft section 6 when conventionaland standard Allen-screwsl3 and 14 are inserted to secure the sections, after the aft section has been aligned with foresection 3 and pins I inserted in holes 7 located in flange members 9; the flange members 9 being integral with the inner wall of flange means 10 and located around the circumference of flange means 10, flange means 10 being integral with the smaller diameter end of aft section 6. The diameters of recesses 4 and 5 are slightly larger than the diameter of the shanks of Allen screws 13 and 14 to provide a slight amount of play in aligning 5 screws 13 andi14 with recesses 5 and 4 respectfully, and walls 15 of recess 5 are tapered to mate with tapered end of 16 Allen screw 13;-tapered walls 15 making it possible to draw up tightly on pins 1. When surface 11 is drawn up tightly against surface 12, a hennetical seal between foresection 3 and aft section 6 is provided by O-ring 17 located in recess 18 in foresection 3. The length of screws 13, location of pins 1 and holes 7, and depth of recesses 5 areselected so that heads 19 of screws 13 are flush with surface 20 of aft section 6 when surfaces 21 of screws 13 are in contact with bottom surfaces 22 of recesses 5. Similarly the length of screws 14, location of pins 1 and holes 7, and depth of recesses 4 are selected so that the heads of screws 14 are flush with the surface of flange members 2 when surfaces 23 of screws 14 are in contact with surfaces 24 of recesses 4. Screws 13 and 14 are threadably mounted in holes 25 and 26 respectfully to anchor pins 1 in position to secure foresection 3 to aft section 6. Alignment of pins 1 with holes 7 is critical, because this alignment insures alignment of Prima Cord channels 27; unless channels 27 are perfectly aligned the Prima Cord means, used to rupture the missile skin, skin rupture being insured by enclosing the Prima Cord in a chamber formed by inserting a longeron in channels 28, upon detonation of the Prima Cord by remote control electrical detonation when the missile is over the target to disseminate the missile warhead payload to the target, cannot be readily threaded through the chamber 27, the threading through being accomplished after aft section 6 is coupled to foresection 3 and in the manner of threading electrical wire through a conduit means in house wiring. The only tools necessary to align and couple foresection 3 to aft section 6 are conventional and standard Allen screws 13 and 14. Testing has demonstrated that my coupling means is sufficiently structurally strong to withstand all forces induced by the pitch, yaw, and roll of the missile in flight, and no failures have been encountered in the use of my coupler means. It is readily apparent from the above description that l have solved the aforementioned prior art problems by providing a structurally strong coupler means for securing sections of a missile warhead together which permits accurate and rapid alignment of the warhead section to insure effective and efficient Prima Cord insertion with a hermetical seal between the sections and with minimal amount of loose hardware and simple tools; the hardware and tools making it possible to accomplish alignment and coupling of the sections even while wearing gloves.

[wish it to beunderstood thatl do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A coupler for securing sections of a missile warhead together comprising a plurality of pin means; flange means integral with an end of each section to be secured; flange member means integral with the flange means, said flange member means having holes therein adapted to receive the pin means; a plurality of recess means in the pin means adapted to receive a screw means; and a hermetical seal means located in an end of one section to be coupled to prevent moisture from entering the coupled warhead sections.

2. The coupler of claim 1 wherein a first flange means is integral with the large diameter end of a foresection and a second flange means is integral with the small diameter end of an aft section to be joined to the foresection.

3. The coupler of claim 2 wherein an O-ring is located in an annular recess formed in the first flange means outside end surface, said O-ring being adapted to provide a hermetical seal between coupled sections and to prevent moisture from entering the warhead.

4. The coupler of claim 2 wherein a plurality of first flange member means are integral with the inner wall of the first flange means and located around the circumference of the first flange means and a plurality of second flange member means are integral with the inner wall of the second flange means and located around the circumference of the second flange means, said first and second flange member means having holes therein adapted to be readily aligned and to receive the pin means therein when the holes are aligned.

S. The coupler of claim 1 wherein the pin means has a head means and a shank means, said shank means having a first recess means located adjacent to the means and a second recess means located 180 from the first recess means and adjacent to the end of the shank opposite to the head means, said second recess means having tapered sidewalls adapted to per- 

1. A coupler for securing sections of a missile warhead together comprising a plurality of pin means; flange means integral with an end of each section to be secured; flange member means integral with the flange means, said flange member means having holes therein adapted to receive the pin means; a plurality of recess means in the pin means adapted to receive a screw means; and a hermetical seal means located in an end of one section to be coupled to prevent moisture from entering the coupled warhead sections.
 2. The coupler of claim 1 wherein a first flange means is integral with the large diameter end of a foresection and a second flange means is integral with the small diameter end of an aft section to be joined to the foresection.
 3. The coupler of claim 2 wherein an O-ring is located in an annular recess formed in the first flange means outside end surface, said O-ring being adapted to provide a hermetical seal between coupled sections and to prevent moisture from entering the warhead.
 4. The coupler of claim 2 wherein a plurality of first flange member means are integral with the inner wall of the first flange means and located around the circumference of the first flange means and a plurality of second flange member means are integral with the inner wall of the second flange means and located around the circumference of the second flange means, said first and second flange member means having holes therein adapted to be readily aligned and to receive the pin means therein when the holes are aligned.
 5. The coupler of claim 1 wherein the pin means has a head means and a shank means, said shank means having a first recess means located adjacent to the means and a second recess means located 180* from the first recess means and adjacent to the end of the shank opposite to the head means, said second recess means having tapered sidewalls adapted to permit drawing up on the pin means by the screw means to tightly couple the sections together.
 6. The coupler of claim 4 wherein the screw means are Allen screws having a head means and a shank means and the recess means have a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the Allen screws shank, said larger diameter being adapted to provide play in aligning the screw means with the recess means. 